Bright future ahead for Jeannette football team

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, November 16, 2024 | 5:27 PM

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Jeannette’s football season was on life support six weeks ago.

The Jayhawks were in the midst of a three-game losing streak following consecutive losses to Leechburg, Clairton and Greensburg Central Catholic, and a berth in the WPIAL playoffs was not a certainty.

But a remarkable come-from-behind 42-41 victory Oct. 11 at Brentwood energized the team.

They finished the regular season by defeating Springdale and Riverview and entered the WPIAL Class A playoffs as a No. 13 seed.

Upset playoff wins against No. 4 Neshannock and No. 5 Greensburg Central Catholic put the Jayhawks in the semifinals for the first time since they were WPIAL champions in 2020 against No. 1 Fort Cherry.

The top-ranked and reigning WPIAL champion Rangers, behind Penn State commit Matt Sieg’s six touchdowns, proved too much for the Jayhawks and won 49-14.

Still, no one saw Jeannette’s run coming except the confident coach Tommy Paulone Jr.

“There were plenty of opportunities, and we weren’t ready to capitalize and win a semifinal game and I take responsibility for that.

“What this run shows that the potential is here, and that’s all it is right now. We showed what we could do the first two rounds with two upsets.”

Paulone said this is a resilient bunch.

“We came in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, and those guys have been grinding since those three losses,” Paulone said. “I’m super proud of the adversity that we learned from this season.

“This team learned to be resilient through tough times, and that’s what the season was. After those three losses, no one thought we were going to make the playoffs.”

Paulone said the team fought through injuries and poor play on both sides of the ball. But it came together as a group and moved forward.

Junior quarterback Kymon’e Brown and sophomore wide receiver Jayce Powell gave teams fits, especially Fort Cherry.

The duo hocked up seven times for 143 yards and one touchdown Friday. Powell had a 50-yard catch and a 59-yard touchdown catch.

Brown also threw a touchdown to Noah Sunder, who outjumped three Fort Cherry players for the ball.

Brown connected with Xavier Odorisio-Farrow, and junior Nick Mendoza became a threat running the ball.

The team has made a huge improvement since Paulone took over three years ago.

“I’m very proud of the progress that we’ve made.” Paulone said. “I’m not happy now, but there is still more football to play and improve.

“I can’t wait to get back to work tomorrow morning. These kids understand what it means to be a Jeannette football player. They got a great flavor the last couple weeks, essentially.”

Jeannette will graduate two seniors, and Paulone says reinforcements will be coming up from the middle school team.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

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